Posts Tagged ‘Visiting Seagrove NC’

Once a year, for the past thirty-one years, potters and ceramic artists have converged on Asheboro, NC, from across the country and beyond to attend the North Carolina Potters Conference where they are able to see demonstrations and hear presentations by world-renowned potters. Created by Dwight Holland, Mark Hewitt, and Dorothy Auman, the conference is one of the oldest annual gatherings of potters in the US and has always featured strong educational and networking components. In March of 2019, potters and ceramic artists will again converge on Asheboro for the 32nd annual Potters Conference, a long-time event hosted by the Randolph Arts Guild.

Beginning with the 2020 conference, the North Carolina Pottery Center, located in Seagrove, NC, will assume organizational leadership and host the conference. The Randolph Arts Guild established a firm foundation on which the NC Pottery Center can build and improve the event. Reginald Scott, executive director, stated that the decision to relinquish management of the NC Potters Conference was a difficult one for the board of directors because of the number of years the organization has managed the event. From the beginning, the NC Potters Conference has been recognized nationally and internationally as a premiere ceramics event not only due to the quality of the presenters and lecturers but because of the unparalleled hospitality offered by the Guild’s staff and volunteers. Scott offered, “Not only is transitioning the conference to the North Carolina Pottery Center a good move for both organizations and those who attend the conference, the support and attention the Center staff can devote to its planning will take it to the next level.”

With the 2020 conference only sixteen months away there is a lot of work to be done, but the NC Pottery Center is already generating plans and ideas to enhance the conference. Lindsey Lambert, executive director of the North Carolina Pottery Center, shares, “Right now, we’re assessing the logistical details of the conference and creating a blueprint for how we want the conference to look. The exact details regarding conference activities, venues, and food have not been set yet. We do hope to make use of Seagrove’s new convention center space, which is scheduled to be completed in 2019, for at least a portion of the conference activities.” The Center also wants to ensure that the Randolph Arts Guild remains involved in the conference in some way given the guild’s long history with the conference.

Lambert adds, “The NC Pottery Center is honored to be hosting the North Carolina Potters Conference in 2020 and beyond. The NC Potters Conference has a great reputation and given our mission, Sharing North Carolina’s Clay Stories, Past and Present!, the Center is a perfect fit to carry on the rich tradition of the conference. Additionally, the Center is happy to be able to step in and take over to ensure that the NC Potters Conference, and the revenue it generates for local businesses, continues and remains right here, in Randolph County, the heart of North Carolina.”

Exhibitions are made possible through the generosity of our membership, the Mary and Elliott Wood Foundation, the John W. and Anna H. Hanes Foundation, and the Goodnight Educational Foundation. This project was supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Thank you!

The mission of the North Carolina Pottery Center is to promote public awareness of and appreciation for the history, heritage, and ongoing tradition of pottery making in North Carolina.

The Center is located at 233 East Avenue in Seagrove, NC. Hours of operation are Tue. – Sat., from 10am – 4pm.

Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, NC’s newest sculpture garden recently installed a steel sculpture by the Winston-Salem artist, Don Green. The piece titled “Metaphor #1” is located along the sidewalk on East Main Street in downtown Seagrove, NC. This sculpture is the second sculpture to be installed in downtown Seagrove as an extension of the sculpture garden.

Don Green is a NC artist located in Winston-Salem. Green received his BFA from Illinois Wesleyan University and his MFA from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He started his career as an art director doing illustration and design. Green has taught art at Methodist College, and the University of Wisconsin. His work has been shown across the region for over 50 years.

About Carolina Bronze Sculpture Garden and Foundry: NC’s newest sculpture garden is adjacent to the fine art foundry. The sculpture garden features over 23 sculptures around a beautiful pond. A walking trail loops around the pond with benches and a picnic area. The garden is free and open to the public and provides a contemplative place for walking and exercise. It is a Certified NC Native Plant Habitat and includes information about the sculpture and native NC plants on the free audio tour available in the garden.

Historic Luck’s Cannery, located in Seagrove, NC, will be the site of the 10th Annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters, on Nov. 17-19, 2017.

Recently voted #1 Town for Craft Lovers, Seagrove is in central North Carolina, making it the perfect day trip destination.

This festival weekend begins with the Friday Night Gala, 6pm to 9pm. Guests will enjoy a catered reception, wine, craft beer, and live jazz music. Meet and greet with your favorite Seagrove potters and be the first to purchase new pottery creations. The evening leads up to the live auction when patrons have the opportunity to bid on a select collection of unique, collaborative pottery pieces. The $45 Gala ticket includes admission to the Saturday and Sunday event and can be purchased online at (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebration-of-seagrove-potters-gala-2017-tickets-37082075486?ref=ebtn) or at the door. Come Early! The first 100 Gala guests will receive a 10th Anniversary commemorative mug made by the Seagrove Potters.

“What’s For Dinner?”, an exhibit of handmade dinnerware, will be presented at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC, on Aug. 5 through Nov. 25, 2017.

Handmade dinnerware does more than feed a hungry body—it provides the user with visual nourishment and tactile delight. “What’s for Dinner?” celebrates the connection between ceramics and food through the work of twenty North Carolina makers, including:

Please join us for the opening reception on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 from noon-2 pm. The reception is open to the public and free of charge. All dinnerware in the show will be available for purchase. Purchased dinnerware must remain in the show until its end date.

Have Dinner @ The North Carolina Pottery Center

We’re hosting three intimate dinners at the North Carolina Pottery Center featuring the dinnerware that’s on display.

The first of these dinners is Friday evening, Aug. 4, 2017, the day before the exhibition officially opens, which combined with a delightful four-course dinner and wine from Elliots on Linden of Pinehurst, NC, makes this dinner extra special! Executive Director Lindsey Lambert will be your host for the evening.

Tickets are $160 each. Only 20 available.

Call 336/873-8430 or visit the North Carolina Pottery Center at 233 East Avenue, Seagrove, NC, to make reservations.

The North Carolina Pottery Center is a nonprofit organization. All proceeds will support the center’s mission of promoting awareness and appreciation of the history, heritage, and ongoing tradition of pottery making in our great state!

Experience something new and adventurous as you spend a Saturday in Seagrove, NC. During the month of July 2017, the pottery shops in Seagrove have something planned each Saturday. Observe demonstrations of wheel turning, carving techniques, raku firing and much more. If you’ve been wanting to get your hands into some clay, this is your opportunity. You can participate in hands-on activities during this special month long event. Try making pottery on the wheel, learn a hand-building technique or make a pottery keepsake of your very own. The participating potters are willing to share behind the scenes activities, so you can join in the craft.

Stepping into the Craft – Saturdays in Seagrove, NC, will take place on July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 2017, from 10am – 5pm.

Each participating shop will share their own special style and have their own specific event. Each Saturday is different. For a list of participating shops and event schedules go to (https://discoverseagrove.com/saturdays-in-seagrove/). Print or download the detailed listing. Pickup an area map and guide at your first stop and have a fun Saturday in Seagrove.

Seagrove is in the central piedmont of North Carolina where more than 100 ceramic artists call home. Visitors can shop galleries and studios from the town’s center, extending to a 20-mile radius along the scenic NC Pottery Highway. Tour the Seagrove shops to experience the 200-year old pottery making tradition. The pottery shops of Seagrove are open year-round.

The North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC, is celebrating the work of the ten budding potters who participated in the spring 2017 session of the Center’s Traditional Arts Program for Students (TAPS). TAPS is an afterschool pottery class hosted by the NC Pottery Center in partnership with Seagrove Elementary School and sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. Each fall and spring, ten fifth grade students from nearby Seagrove Elementary School are invited to participate in the program, and learn pottery local history and skills.
Chad Brown with student

The TAPS program aims to connect North Carolina students with local traditional artists. Students receive instruction in an art form that has deep cultural roots in their community, taught by experts utilizing traditional techniques. Students learn numerous clay processes, including wheel-throwing, hand-building, glazing and firing of pottery forms drawn from traditional use and practice. Seagrove potter Sid Luck, winner of the 2014 North Carolina Heritage Award, leads the class. Luck is assisted by Seagrove potters Chad Brown and Susan Greene, NCPC Artists-in-Residence Owen Laurion and Kirsten Olson, and NCPC educational program manager, Emily Lassiter.

“The North Carolina Pottery Center’s TAPS program is so fortunate to have fifth-generation potter Sid Luck teaching Seagrove pottery traditions to the community’s young people,” says Sally Peterson, Folklife Director at the NC Arts Council. “A career public school teacher himself, Sid combines high level teaching skills with time-honored pottery knowledge to present an enriching program that connects students to the very heart of their community. Rising fifth-generation potter Chad Brown and others contribute an energy and creativity to the program that would be difficult to match anywhere outside of a university program. I love visiting the TAPS program, because the students are so enthusiastic and really perform way beyond expectation,” says Peterson.

The spring 2017 TAPS session will end Wednesday, Apr. 5, 2017. To celebrate our students’ hard work, a reception and exhibition of TAPS students’ pottery is planned for that day, from 2:45 until 4pm in the education building. The general public is invited to attend.

Join us at the on April 6th for a presentation by Kirsten Olson, currently an Artist-in-Residence at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC, for Clay Talks.

A graduate of Juniata College in Huntington, PA with a BA in Anthropology, Minor Fine Arts and an MFA Ceramics from University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Olsen most recently served as Ceramics Adjunct Faculty and Ceramic Studio Technician at the Art Department of Juniata College. She has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Pottery Center since Oct. 2016. She was named one of American Craft Week’s 2016 “Rising Stars; 30 Exceptional Crafts People under the age of 30” and most recently announced as a finalist in “Functional Ceramics” for the 2017 NICHE Awards.

Olsen says, “My inspiration as a ceramic artist is strongly grounded in anthropology, particularly cultural customs, ceremonies, and rituals. My ceramic vessels not only contain the food and drink that nourish, but also contain the ideas of culture and community.” Highly inspired by Alaskan culture and the North, her work recalls the shapes of baskets, hats, mukluk patterns, and ivory objects while the glaze and kiln firing process also reflect textures associated with natural materials, such as bone, ivory, and wood.

Olsen’s talk will address her background in clay and anthropology, as well as recent endeavors at the Pottery Center. A potluck at 6pm will begin the evening’s events, followed by the slide talk at 7pm. Come out for a great night of food and community!

Location: The NCPC Educational Building located behind the NC Pottery Center at 233 East Avenue, Seagrove, 27341.

This presentation is free and open to the public.

Exhibitions are made possible through the generosity of our membership, the Mary and Elliott Wood Foundation, the John W. and Anna H. Hanes Foundation, and the Goodnight Educational Foundation. This project was supported by the NC Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Thank you! The mission of the North Carolina Pottery Center is to promote public awareness of and appreciation for the history, heritage, and ongoing tradition of pottery making in North Carolina.

For more information, call the center at 336/873-8430. This ongoing lecture series is facilitated by Emily Lassiter, NCPC Educational Program Manager.

Please join us for a special slide presentation by Ray Owen at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC, on Sunday, Mar. 5, starting at 2pm. The open house at the center that day will start at 1pm.

Owen’s presentation, “The Busbees and the Jugtown Legacy,” is being held in conjunction with “The Busbee Legacy: Jugtown & Beyond, 1917-2017,” an exhibition that is currently up through April 22, 2017. His presentation in being done in conjunction with the NC Potters Conference.

Owen will be describing the context for establishing the Jugtown pottery, the relationship between regional potters and the Sandhills resorts, and how Jugtown continues to thrive.

Owen is a writer and conservationist who has been a contributor to “O. Henry” and “PineStraw” magazines. Recent projects include writing the words for composer David Ludwig’s “Songs from the Bleeding Pines,” commissioned in 2016 by the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. Other recent work includes writing the forward for “Jugtown Pottery 1917-2017: A Century of Art & Craft in Clay,” featured guest for UNC-TV’s Collecting Carolina series, and narration for the film “More Than Pine Trees and Sand: Disappearing Frogs Project.” Film work includes writing and directing “Siren of the Round Timber Tract,” premiering in April 2017. Public service has included the Stewardship Council of the Cultural Landscape Foundation and Vice President of Friends of Weymouth.

While most of our Clay Talks! are potlucks, this particular event is not. Light refreshments will be available courtesy of the Pottery Center starting at 1:30pm.

Location: North Carolina Pottery Center, 233 East Avenue, Seagrove, 27341. This presentation is free and open to the public.

Please join us for a slide presentation at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC, on Feb. 2, 2017, from 6-8pm by Pamela Lorette Owens of Jugtown Pottery.

Owens will discuss one of the North Carolina Pottery Center’s current exhibitions, “North Carolina’s Traditional Women Potters,” which she curated. “North Carolina’s Traditional Women Potters” is on exhibit through Feb. 11, 2017. The exhibition is the culmination of a study and lecture presented by Owens at the Catawba Valley Pottery & Antiques Festival, in Hickory, NC, in 2015.

The twentieth century saw the emergence of women potters from the lineage of European settlers, and while Native American women had been making pottery here for thousands of years, their names and work were definitively recorded through writing and images only as the century progressed. This exhibition is an examination of North Carolina women who were established potters by 1975 and who came from or chose to work and learn through a traditional approach. The focus is on women who made and/or decorated pots, but all of the women who worked daily in potteries were integral to the process.

A potluck at 6pm will begin the evening’s events, followed by the slide talk at 7pm. Come out for a great night of food and community! This presentation is free and open to the public.

The NCPC Educational Building is located behind the NC Pottery Center at 233 East Avenue, Seagrove, 27341.